Gradually Put Together a Mess

 It's great to see a grandmother taking her grandsons fishing!  I met Cindy Gray and her two grandsons Alex and Henry, down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We made a quick run up the Nassau River and turned into the incoming current to fish a flooded bank. We started out with jigs and minnows, fishing a deeper drop of the river, and we did have one big bite - it took the line, headed under the boat, and was gone!  We then worked along some flooded shell, now tossing float rigs and minnows, but didn't have much action. 

After dropping back to Twin Creeks, we fished the float rigs and here Alex put a small Jack in the boat then Cindy hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout. One in the box! We then made the run down to Pumpkin Hill and drifted floats long, not having much luck, then we fished around the corner. Cindy put a big Jack in the boat, Alex caught a couple of small Seatrout, and Henry got on the board with a Pinfish landing. 

We came back to fish some rocks at Nassauville and after a cast or two Alex had a big bite, battled it to the boat, and landed a huge Mangrove Snapper.  Two in the box! Henry was fishing the same general area and when he had a good bite I thought for sure it was another big Mangrove.  But as Henry worked it to the boat it seemed to get bigger!  He played it perfectly and brought to the net a nice 19.5" Slot Redfish.  Three in the box!  This trio of anglers began to work those rocks vigorously, playing cat and mouse with the Mangroves, and ended up with numbers Four, Five, Six and Seven in the box.

We finished up around at a large drainage, drifting floats around a point and on Alex's first cast, BOOM! A nice Mangrove Snapper, Eight in the box!  Alex finished it off hooking up and landing another keeper sized Seatrout, number Nine. We left them biting and headed back and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Captain Lawrence Piper is a fishing guide in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida. He is a US Coast Guard licensed charter boat operator. 

Capped It Off With Mangroves

 

I fished with my son-in-law Nathan Taylor and friend Michael Silver this morning. We launched out at Goffinsville Park and made a short run down to Spanish Drop to turn into the current and toss jigs and live shrimp to the exposed oysters on the very last of the outgoing tide. Nathan "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. Michael followed that up with hard fighting Jack Crevalle catch and then when we reached corner that had a submerged "bar", the duo of anglers began to catch feisty Redfish. 

We moved up to a large drainage and here Michael put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat and we picked up a couple of more Seatrout out deep. We then fished some dock pilings on the first of an incoming tide and although not much was biting , we did catch a small Croaker. After running thru Horsehead and fishing the mouth of Jackstaff with the jigs, we came back thru and set up to fish some rocks with float rigs and pieces of shrimp. And almost immediately, we were putting keeper sized Mangrove Snapper in the box. We caught fish until this duo reached their 5-a-piece limit, then we culled a couple, then we moved on.

Our final stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, drifting floats long. Nathan caught another Seatrout here and Michael tangled with a big Ladyfish.  

During the trip both anglers had brief battles with Sharks but we did land one for a quick release. The breeze had blown all day and we had some good action so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  

Captain Lawrence Piper is a fishing guide in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida and is a 

 US Coast Guard licensed charter boat operator

Down To The Wire

 Boy what a blow we had yesterday with steady winds up in the 20's and gusts even higher -glad I wasn't fishing! But sure enough, the wind died thru out the night and we had a glorious morning greet us when I met Mark and Jen Woodard and their daughter Lilli down at the Sawpit Creek Boat ramp. We made a long run up the intercoastal and dipped in to Jackstaff and then into a smaller creek and set up at a drainage on the first of an outgoing tide to pitch float rigs with live shrimp. Right off Lilli had a bite but it wasn't a taker then shortly after that Jen yelled, Fish On!  She played it expertly to the boat and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.

We then moved over to Poteat Cut and fished an edge and within minutes it was Lilli's turn to battle a fish. She fought it valiantly and soon brought to the net a 20" Slot Redfish. Two in the box! We fished back at the mouth of Jackstaff, bumped across and fished jigs on a point, then made a run thru Horsehead and over to Back River to fish a bank with the tide running by, but to no avail.

Back to Nassauville we went and here Mark got hot, putting a couple ofkeeper Mangrove Snapper in the boat. He also landed a Croaker that we could have kept, but we tossed it back. Around to Seymore's Pointe we went to fish some more dock pilings. The "competition" heated up! Jen and Mark were neck and neck with their fish count, catching Mangrove's and small Seabass and they raced to the finish line matching each other fish for fish. It went down to the wire but I think Mark edged Jen by one fish! As we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fat Snapper

 

I wrapped my week up fishing out at Goffinsville Park today. I met Joe Callow and his fishing buddies Jack and Larry early. We made a quick run down the Nassau and made  a stop at Spanish Drop and fished the exposed shell bank with jigs and live shrimp. All three anglers were getting good casts and although we had a nibble here and there, we had not takers.  

We moved up the  river a bit and fished a large runout, then move further up and fished Twin Creeks. We had been seeing Sharks cruising the bank and sure enough, Jake had a "take" and when he set the hook, ziipppp went his drag as the big fish headed East!  Jake went to the stern with the fish, then back to the bow then settled in for a long battle. He kept the pressure on, stayed patient, and eventually landed a nice Bonnethead Shark. Minutes later he also tangled with and landed a high flying "poor mans Tarpon" - a Ladyfish. 

Back at Symore's Pointe we fished some dock pilings and played cat and mouse with some bait stealers, then move around and fished some rocks at Nassauville. Again, Jake had the hot rod and put a rather large(for May) Mangrove Snapper in the boat. From then on all three anglers were trying their hand at catching the sneaky critters. We added another bigger Mangrove to the box before we moved on. 

After making the run down to Broward Island we worked it thoroughly with the jigs and live shrimp. We did have a few nibbles but no takers, so we moved on, coming back to some docks at Nassauville. Again, we found the Mangroves and added a couple more for a "Fish Taco" dinner. It had been a beautiful day out on the water and a great way for three friends to spend some time together so as we headed back  we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.